With Jackson having flown to that Neverland in the sky, I thought now would be a good time as any to again peruse his discography.  Being a child of the 80s, it was inevitable that my music palette would be ingrained with at least some Jacko.  Though I own all ten of his studio albums, I'd say my collection of favorites remains generally small and self-contained.

His best stuff definitely comes from the "Thriller" and "Bad" albums.  Beat It is still one of my all-time faves; the catchy pop melody, Van Halen's memorable guitar solo, and the dueling pacifist/rebellious fueled lyrics are too good.  (Was it any wonder that I always stuck around stage 2 in Moonwalker for as long as I could?) ;)  Smooth Criminal and Bad are pretty much equal on the groove-hip meter, though Weird Al ruined Bad for me with his parody track Fat -- to me, Al's version became the definitive one. ;)  I wasn't a fan of Billie Jean when I was young, but it really grew on me over the years.  Dirty Diana is also excellent, and I Just Can't Stop Loving You is one of his better pop ballads.

From Dangerous, the two big highlights are Give In To Me and Black Or White.  Slash's guitar work featured in the former makes for a fiery presence, while the latter has a terrific melody and uplifting lyrical trait that still resonates today.  Black Or White also happens to be my favorite MJ music video; having "Kevin", "Norm", and face morphing effects all in one place is made up of too much win. ;)

So, whether you were a casual listener or an ardent fan of the man's music, do you have any favorites?

Have to agree on Weird Al's "Fat" as it stays in the back of my head even to this day.

I still like "Amish Paradise" a lot as well even though and Coolio was so uncool about them doing it. Really, "Ganster's Paradise" isn't any less effective because the former exists.

I grew up during late 80's and 90's, MJ was a huge phenomenon.
loved some of his songs, ~ Thriller, Human Nature, Beat it, Billie Jean, Bad, Smooth Criminal, Speed Demon, the way you make me feel, Man in the Mirror, Black or White, Give in to me, Heal the World, Who is it?, they don't care about us, Earth Song, etc...so many fantastic songs.
there was also song called "say, say, say" where he sung with Paul McCartney:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gWvBXS2t4A

ahh, the memories...

I grew up with Thriller. That entire album was solid gold as far as I am concerned, but if pressed, I'd mention Beat It, Billie Jean, Wann Be Startin' Something, Thriller, The Girl Is Mine . . . . Jesus, man. Just name a track off that album, and it was awesome.

As far as Bad and Dangerous go, his next followup works, they were still solid, but from Bad, I have to single out I Just Can't Stop Loving You, Man in the Mirror, Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal. I've always loved his edgier pop stuff, but the man could perform across all fields. Something I've always loved about the man.

I found Dangerous as an album to be kind of a transitional period from the somewhat tamer material he had going on until his later work, and had many tunes I totally dug, but the ones that stand out are Heal the World, Black or White and Dangerous.

HIStory: Past, Present and Future was where the gears started shifting. His work was darkly personal and peppered throughout the album were themes of loneliness, isolation, paranoia and anger in light of the accusations against him. Thematically, I consider this to be his most intriguing album. Scream was the perfect starting song, cementing the tone for what was to come. If you can, check out the cover by Korean artists Lee Jung Hyun and Yoo Seung Jun. Following that, there was They Don't Care About Us, Stranger In Moscow, This Time Around, D.S. and Little Susie, all of which were really, really good songs in my opinion.

Finally, there was Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which was basically a remix album. All of the new material on there was really good, but Morphine and Ghosts were easily my favorite.

I listened to his Invincible album way back in high school, and not being particularly fond of anything on the disc, but maybe it's time to give it a second chance.

Every Michael Jackson song has in one way shape or form made history, whether it's topping Billboard charts, breaking records or influencing artists for generations.  How can you not love them all?  RIP

What are the songs he (read: his writing team) wrote for Sonic 3?  I quite liked that soundtrack. ;p

If I had to choose actual songs, it'd have to be Scream.

No.1 Smooth Criminal
No.2 Billie Jean
No.3 Beat It

The rhythms are what really does it for me.
I didn't really get into his ballads (you are not alone, etc..)

No love for Off the Wall?

"Who is it?", "Stranger in Moscow", there are few more, vaguely similar too.

Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
Smooth Criminal
Scream
Dirty Diana
Human Nature

I grew up in the 90's, so my favorites are the songs from that era: "Black or White," "Heal the World," and "Scream." I only discovered his earlier stuff a little later. I think I actually heard "Fat" and "Eat It" before I ever heard the originals.

Grew up in the 80's and 90's.
I love a lot of his stuff.

Blame on the Boogie, Pretty young Thing, Will you be there,
Human Nature  (I've had this song in my head the whole day today),
Thriller, Bad, Black or White, Smooth Criminal

I heard about that Weird Al "Fat" parody too, it was funny; and yet
his Star Wars Episode I version done to American Pie wasn't that interesting.

There was a funny parody on "In Living Color" of the Black or White music video where MJ (Tommy Davidson?) tries to break a car window with his hand then ends up screaming in pain, 
and then the wind starts blowing and then he gets blown away.
lastly MJ goes up to an officer and asks he's black or white.
The officer says 'you're under arrest".
and then Mj says "I guess I am black."
The audience in the background starts to groan.  ;p

Did you guys all see the Thriller dance remake with the Phillpines prisoners?
It's an interesting watch. Guess they had nothing better to do.

Thank you MJ! RIP

No, but I seen an Indian version of Thriller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x81iip6psks). It's videos like this where I find adjectives fail me the most. It isn't a cover, but it is at the very least, heavily inspired by MJ's classic.

.....wow...

Here's the In Living Color Parody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiJOGjdL2Hg

And here's the Phillipines prisoners dancing to Thriller.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9 … re=related

a Tommy Davidson classic!

( :

I was reading the back of a 2CD Michael Jackson complilation and it refered to his MTV music videos as "short films." Whatever, they're music videos, lets call them what they are. People don't say "Billie Jean is my favorite short film of all time."